And the lack of logic award goes too...........

In my internet perambulations today, I discovered this article on the Guardian website http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2289256,00.html.

At the bottom of this article is a link to an article by Polly Curtis talking about how Pro Life groups are targetting schools (and their staff!!) which offer contraceptive/ sexual advice clinics to their students. These groups really do just show amazing amounts of narrow minded lack of logic!

In the first article it is reported that Brooks Advisory and the Family Planning Association are calling for kids from Foundation Stage (4-5 yrs) up to be given better sex education. Obviously this is going to kick up an absolute shit storm. Heavens forbid we tell our young people that a) sex exists b) at some point they are going to start having it and finally c) here are the risks and how to protect oneself from them.

I'm a Mother, ironically of 2 children in this age range and really, I have absolutely not a single ob jection to schools educating my children about sex, safe sex, contraception, abortion, relationships, self esteem, self protection and so on. For one thing I think they're better equipped than me to do it. I'm their mum and there's no way I can expalin to my kiddies about sex.

The UK has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe. This suggests to me at least, that our current system of sex education is inadequate and isn't working. It also suggests to me, that perhaps as adults we need to take a damn hard look at ourselves and what we're teaching our kids.

We can't pretend that sex doesn't exist. Everywhere we look sex is there. So making it taboo isn't going to stop young people doing it. Whereveer they look, they see sex. I don't know what teen magazines are like these days but in my day both more! and Just seventeen spoke about sex and had sexual advice columns. Here, grown ups is the rub : Teenagers know about Sex!! More to the point Teenagers, are having, have had, and will continue to have sex!! Not educating them on the risks, the joys, the consequences............ that isn't (and is proving to not) solve anything.

We can't stop young people having sex. What we can and should be doing, is providing them with advice, information and access to contraception. We shoudl also be teaching them about realtionships, about self respect, self esteem, peer pressure (and how to avoid it) and removing the taboos and stigmas attached to having/not having sex.

What we also need to do is provide better support to those teens who do get pregn ant and keep their babies. Having a baby shouldn't condemn you to a life of poverty and better educational and financial support at that point means mothers, single or not will be better placed to have healythier, more stable lives and thus provide their children with healthier, more stable lives.

And finally, no telling teenagers about sex doesn't mean their going to go and do it any more than they already will. What it does mean is they are more likely to have safe responsible sex with people they actually WANT to have sex with. And they won't just be doing it becase they're drunk/they're mates are/they want someone to love them.